The US labor market is one of the biggest and fastest growing in the world, and a vast number of job opportunities are advertised daily. However, it can be difficult for those looking for work to decide where they should actually look for their next position when there is so much choice.
Traditionally, people either hear about work through word-of-mouth, they attend job fairs or they contact organizations directly. But what are you supposed to do if you’re not sure about where to start at all? The answer: Use job boards.
A recent study from Yoh, a world-leading outsourcing and talent company, stated that 67% of candidates who are looking for new jobs use online job boards to help them. This equates to roughly three-quarters of all people in the U.S. who are looking for a new job, whether they are employed or not. Job boards are becoming some of the most effective tools individuals can use to look for new career opportunities.
The benefits of using job boards are that you can search for roles in a particular niche, you can find jobs that fit your skills and experience, you can look for work across various fields, you can receive notifications about jobs, and you can do a lot of research into the field you want to work in.
Tech specialists, for example, often prefer looking for work online through job boards, because they can show their portfolios and expertise to potential employers there.
But what job boards should you be using? Carry on reading to find out!
Top 5 Job Boards That You Should Use
1. LinkedIn
A great place to share your portfolio and work experience is on LinkedIn. It’s free to use and you can upgrade to the Premium version if you want to get access to additional features.
LinkedIn is a well-known professional social networking site that is used around the world. If you use LinkedIn you can connect with other professionals in the field you wish to work in, and you can search for new positions through the job search section.
In addition to this, companies and recruiters might even reach out to you via LinkedIn if they like the skills, experiences and portfolio of work you share on your profile.
Finally, the ‘Easy Apply’ option that LinkedIn offers allows users to quickly apply for jobs. This saves individuals a lot of time when they’re looking for work.
Here are the top advantages of using LinkedIn:
- Plenty of active users, including recruiters and candidates that you can connect with
- Profile credibility
- A broad network that works
- Up-to-date information is given out about job openings
2. Glassdoor
Glassdoor isn’t just a job board, it’s also a website where employees go to review their place of work.
This website is often used by current, and former, employees of an organization to review the business that they work(ed) at. You anonymously leave your opinion on the dashboard and other people can read what you have said. Over the years, thousands of people have left their opinions about their current employer on Glassdoor, and these thoughts have helped thousands of other people decide if they really want to work in the organization.
In addition to the above, people also discuss salaries on Glassdoor. And again these figures help people to decide whether or not they would like to work in the organization.
There is also an option to reply to the comments that are posted.
3. Monster.com
Another popular website in the U.S. is Monster.com and on this site companies display open job vacancies that they have available.
Monster.com has lots of open job opportunities, and they even advertize remote opportunities too. The website also helps users to look for jobs by listing some keywords near the search bar - these keywords can save users a lot of time when they are looking for work. Currently, “work from home” is one of the top searched words.
In addition to the above, companies review the open positions they are advertising, and the number of job vacancies grows every month.
There is something for everybody on Monster.com because the site also offers key career advice to its users, so there’s always something new to learn.
4. Dice
Dice is a popular job board for tech professionals who are looking for work. The website has an extended database of tech professionals that is constantly being updated by users. And the system helps recruiters to find the candidates to fit the open positions they have.
You can search and communicate with people through Dice, so you can find the best person for your project, who also has the right skill set.
There are usually thousands of listings on the site at any one time, and anyone can start their job search there.
5. Indeed
Indeed is a job board that is recognized all over the world, and it’s so easy to use, it’s no wonder that it’s a fan favorite.
On Indeed a candidate fills out their profile and composes a resume and a cover letter, which they then use to apply for work.
A standard resume helps individuals to apply for roles quickly, and without having to worry about the quality of their application every time they apply for work.
The job board has a mixture of paid and free job advertisements, and has great algorithms that help people to search for work within a niche.
Other Job Boards That You Can Use To Find Work In The Tech Field
1. ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter has millions of job postings on it, and these jobs are right across the United States. Boasting so many job advertisements makes this website very attractive with job seekers.
The number of open job postings, along with an easy to use job search engine, makes looking for work very simple for users and this is incredibly desirable. One important feature though is that you get a notification that tells you that your information has been viewed by a recruiter.
In addition to the above, ZipRecruiter works well on a mobile, so you can keep yourself up-to-date whilst on the go.
2. CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder is a job board that has a long history. And it’s because of its long existence that people keep on using it.
With a range of popular search filters to use, including salary range and location, and the huge database of candidates and employers that you can access and search through, it’s no wonder that nine out of ten companies on the Fortune 500 list admit that they have used this job board at some point.
3. GeekWork
GeekWork is a great place for startups to advertise their new job opportunities.
The database is updated every day with new careers, and you can filter large job lists by categories and niches. You can also find some great freelancing opportunities at startups, and you can even work on multiple projects, if you work in this way. However, there are full-time job vacancies too.
4. IT Job Pro
The perks of using the IT Job Pro job board are that it features jobs that have been posted within the last day, navigating yourself around the website isn’t too complicated, and beginners can read about the in demand jobs that are available, so that they can figure out what skills they’ll need to learn to be able to work in these high demand roles.
The platform is more oriented toward specialists with years of experience, but it’s not impossible for someone who’s starting out in their career to find a job here.
5. Ladders
Ladders is the website where big-name employers find the candidates that fit their projects.
The name “$100K+ Club”, which the site is often referred to as, has sort of set the trend for what type of jobs actually get published here. A lot of highly-paid vacancies can be found, and they usually come with salaries that are $80,000 and up, so it is definitely worth having a look at that list if you want to earn big.
Technically this site works very similar to other job sites noted in this list, the main difference is that the site usually posts high paying job adverts!
6. TechCareers
TechCareers advertises job opportunities for people of all experience levels, skill sets and ages. When you click on an advertisement, the link takes you to the website of the company that’s posted the job, so you can apply directly for the job with them.
What is the benefit of applying directly? Your application will not be left unattended, and you can be sure that the recruiting team will see your application as soon as possible.
Getting The Most Out Of Using Job Boards
It isn’t just about finding the right job board(s) to suit your needs though, you must also use the job boards wisely by selecting what keywords to use when searching for open positions. In addition to this, you need to create an outstanding resume. And you should ask your experienced friends for their professional opinion about your resume and cover letter, because there may be room for improvement.
Here are three easy steps to follow when using job boards:
Step 1. Prepare a resume and a cover letter
Writing a resume may sound like easy work to being with, but crafting a resume takes time and patience. It is after all an important document that tells an employer why they should consider hiring you.
When writing a resume you should craft it to match the job you are looking at applying for. There is no point sending in a resume packed with irrelevant job experiences and skills that don’t mean anything to the job you’re applying for. Look at and study the job description to gain a better understanding of what to add, and what to leave out of your resume.
If you’re unsure, just ask for professional help. Professionals in the resume writing field can help you to arrange your skills and experience in a way that will draw an employer’s attention to you. The Careerist team, for example, offer resume writing consultations to help their graduates write their resumes.
Step 2. Get to know the job boards you intend on using
Job boards look alike, but they do not always work in the same way, as the algorithms from one site to another differ slightly.
You have to learn about the features, and possible filters, of a particular job board to use it to search for work effectively. Try and discover all the possible ways to look for a job, including the possibility of getting help from other job board users or applications.
For example, Careerist offers its graduates a professional service, JAS (Job Recruitment Service), which automates searches and increases the number of replies to vacancies from an average of 50 (with manual entry) to 200 per week. Thus, the applicant spends only about one hour instead of 8 hours a week searching and applying.
Step 3. Mind the date
No matter how attractive a job posting might be, if the advert was posted weeks ago there is no point in applying for the role.
The job market in the US is super busy, so within a few days one job posting will receive hundreds of applications. Small recruitment teams rarely have time to read through every single job application, and after a month of reading applications they’ve probably found the candidates they want to interview, so there really is no point in applying for a month-old post.
You should focus on searching for brand new job opportunities - adverts that have been published a day or even an hour ago. Applying for these jobs means that you are most likely to get some sort of result back. Even if it’s a notification to say you were not suitable for the job, it’s better than your application being lost in a pile of a hundred or so other applications, and you never hearing anything back from the recruiter.
Conclusion
Getting a job in the tech field is not something that can be achieved by everyone in a day or two. Of course there are some exceptions, but these cases are rare. Most of the time, people find work within a few weeks.
The key take home messages are that you need to be dedicated to your job search, you need to work with the job board(s) you decide to use, and you need to stick to the goals you’ve set for yourself.
You should think of job boards as trampolines that you can jump on to reach your future career.